The CHill Zone of T&F: Conway's View From the Finish Line

Conference Weekend Will Spotlight Big Three

Feb 23rd, 2011
9:44 am PST

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For the collegiate athletes the conference weekend is the beginning of their real indoor season – conference followed by national titles. So the best of the collegiates will be on display. That means the Big 12 Conference, the Pac 10 Conference, and the SEC. The sports’ “Big Three” collegiate conferences when it comes to track and field and the sports “Big Three” teams – Texas A&M, Oregon, and Florida!

These are the conferences and teams that have emerged over the past decade as the cream of the crop in collegiate track and field – the teams that are always right there in the thick of the national championship battle. Look no further than the current rankings

Based on the USTFCCCA Computer Rankings the top 10 teams heading into this weekend are:

Men

1 Florida
2 LSU
3 Indiana
4 Texas A&M
5 Arkansas
6 Stanford
7 BYU
8 Texas
9 Oklahoma
10 Penn State

 

Women

1 Oregon
2 LSU
3 Texas
4 Arkansas
5 Texas A&M
6 Tennessee
7 Florida State
8 Oklahoma
9 UCF
10 BYU

 

Last year’s top finishing teams at the NCAA Indoor Championships were:

Men

57 pts    Florida
44 pts Oregon
44 pts Texas A&M
42 pts LSU
38 pts Arkansas
25 pts Indiana
21 pts Arizona State
18 pts Northern Arizona
18 pts South Carolina
18 pts New Mexico
18 pts Minnesota

 

Women

61 pts Oregon
36 pts Tennessee
35 pts LSU
33 pts Florida
31 pts Texas A&M
28 pts Auburn
20 pts Clemson
20 pts Florida State
20 pts UTEP
18 pts Iowa St, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

Look for some combination of these teams to be at the top of the heap when the championships are handed out again this year.

Defending women’s champ Oregon’s top performers heading into conference weekend:

Event Mark Athlete
     
60 7.25 Amber Purvis
200 23.27 Amber Purvis
800 2:06.64 Laura Roessler
Mile 4:34.75 Jordan Hassay
Mile 4:36.32 Anne Kesselring
3000 9:05.42 Jordan Hassay
3000 9:08.60 Alex Kosinski
5000 15:44.60 Alex Kosinski
HJ 6’ 0” Brianne Theissen
PV 14’ 3.5” Melissa Gergel
LJ 20’ 6.5” Jamesha Youngblood
Pent 4507 Brianne Theissen

 

Defending men’s champ Florida’s top performers heading into conference weekend:

Event Mark Athlete
     
60 6.57 Jeff Demps
60 6.64 Terrell Wilks
200 20.88 Tony McQuay
200 21.01 Leonardo Seymore
400 45.95 Tony McQuay
Mile 3:56.84 Dumisane Hlaselo
LJ 26’ 1” Will Claye
TJ 55’ 10.25” Will Claye
TJ 55’ .25” Christian Taylor
TJ 53’ 1.5” Omar Craddock
SP 63’ 4” Kemal Mesic
Hep 5747 Gray Horn

That’s how things look today. I’m sure there will be a lot of change after the dust has settled Sunday. Once the conferences are complete I’ll take a hard look at trying to handicap the NCAA meet. It should be another hot one – as should this weekend’s conference meets.

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